Fly's Eye camera system: optical imaging using a hexapod platform

摘要

The Fly's Eye Project is a high resolution, high coverage time-domain survey in multiple optical passbands: our goal is to cover the entire visible sky above the 30° horizontal altitude with a cadence of ～ 3 min. Imaging is going to be performed by 19 wide-field cameras mounted on a hexapod platform resembling a fly's eye. Using a hexapod developed and built by our team allows us to create a highly fault-tolerant instrument that uses the sky as a reference to define its own tracking motion. The virtual axis of the platform is automatically aligned with the Earth's rotational axis; therefore the same mechanics can be used independently from the geographical location of the device. Its enclosure makes it capable of autonomous observing and withstanding harsh environmental conditions. We briefly introduce the electrical, mechanical and optical design concepts of the instrument and summarize our early results, focusing on sidereal tracking. Due to the hexapod design and hence the construction is independent from the actual location, it is considerably easier to build, install and operate a network of such devices around the world.